I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.

Hess Bakery in Lakewood, Washington

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosureBy Mavis Butterfield on January 19, 2017 · 20 Comments

Last week while Mrs. HB and I were out grocery shopping we stopped by Hess Bakery in Lakewood, Washington. If you’ve never been there and you LOVE a real homemade pretzel, or are looking for authentic German food products, Hess Bakery and Deli is the place to be.

In addition to a huge selection of condiments, cookies, chocolates, German wine, juice and everything else imaginable, Hess bakery has a rockin’ deli case. Tons of sausages, salami, bratwurst… you name it… they’ve got it.

Word on the street is they make awesome sandwiches too.

I think I’ve been to Hess bakery 6-7 times since in the past few years {it’s not often we find ourselves in Lakewood} and every time we’ve gone we come home with a sack full of their homemade pretzels.

They get the salt just right and at $1.25 a pop, they are worth every penny.

Hess Bakery in Lakewood, Wa. If you’re in that neck of the woods… stop by. You won’t be disappointed. I promise.

~Mavis

P.S. If you’ve got a favorite bakery ANYWHERE in the United States you think I should visit and you haven’t commented on my previous posts…. let me know in the comment section below. This is going to be a travelling year and we’d love all the recommendations we can get.

Comments

If you ever venture east try Whistlestop Bakery in Hopkinsville, KY. They have the best donuts, pastries and treats of all different flavors, unique toppings, and fillings. Love this place. We are from FL and EVERY time I go to KY for work I make a point to stop here. I would go way out of my way to get here.

If you find yourself in New England again I highly recommend
1) borealis brad in Wells, Maine. the olive bread is ahhhmazing!!
2) Mike’s Pastry in Boston. I think you may have gone there when you had a trip, I honestly can’t remember that far back haha but I remember you writing about a trip to New England. Anywho; best cannolis around!!
3) The Holy Donut in Portland, Maine. Potato donuts…’nuff said 😉

5b’s Bakery in Concrete, WA. Everything is amazing, everything is housemade (including the lox and pastrami) and everything is gluten-free. I promise the food is worth the drive for anyone, but especially people who have to be gluten-free. This is REAL food. Even the coffee is special. Cute spot and Em and her crew are pretty special, too. http://www.5bsbakery.com

I don’t have a bakery for you to visit, but if you are in the midwest, I recommend you stop by Decorah, Iowa. They have gardening for you (http://www.seedsavers.org/visit) and beer for your husband (www.tgbrews.com). Both places are known world-wide and I’ve heard of people driving hours and hours out of their way just to stop by.

If you wanna go South,and visit Savannah,then you have to stop at Bake In The Day Bakery. Husband &a Wife team. Cheryl bakes deserts and Griff bakes artisanal breads. Cheryl is also a cookbook author. Y’all Come!

Apparently, the Hess Bakery is 45 miles from me—but definitely worth a 90 mile round trip if I could get some pretzels and Brötchen (rolls) and Vollkorn bread like those from the old country!! I can’t believe I haven’t heard of Hess’ before. I’ve been so sad since the closest German deli to me, which was on Mercer Island, closed a few years back. My grandfather used to make his own pretzels—using lye, no less!—but he never taught me how and now he’s been gone 16 years. Thanks so much for the tip, Mavis!

Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. The one and only time I’ve EVER stood in a line down the block for a baked good (I thought the line was ridiculous but I was pressured into it by my traveling companion who did the research on this bakery beforehand) – totally worth it!!!

I think you should come to Vancouver Island in your travels this year. A trip to Saison Market in the Cowichan Valley would be worth the trip. The owner is a trained French pastry chef and the food is so good! They are only open on weekends and people come from miles to enjoy the food and the atmosphere. http://www.saisonmarket.ca The whole valley is known for its’ various “foodie” delights so you would really enjoy it.

Mavis, you MUST drive up to Redmond and visit Midori Bakery. Their pastries are even better than The French Bakery you mentioned visiting recently. Seriously, I’m drooling now. The flakes! The butter! And they always have stunning cakes in progress you can watch through the glass window to the kitchen.